The Besieged Palestinian Agricultural Sector

The report is an account of the state of the art of the Palestinian agricultural sector and focuses on the several limitations that Israel imposes on the development of the sector and on the movement of farmers and goods. The detailed account is useful to have on the evolution and the contemporary challenges faced by agriculture in Palestine. First, the author gives an account on the side sectors depending on agriculture in Palestine and on its role in the Palestinian economy in general. Then, he outlines the limitations to access the lands imposed on Palestinian and the effects it has on the production and the crops cultivated. The impact on the economy is such that 50% of the domestic demand is imported. The expansion of the Israeli settlements, the restricted access to water and the urban expansion at the expenses of the land devoted to agriculture, the separation barrier and the seam area, turned out in a steady decline of the land devoted to agriculture in the last 44 years. The paper is a useful resource on data, statistics on the Palestinian agriculture, but also on the laws, limitations, imports imposed by Israel and the ways Palestinians cope with it transforming their agriculture.